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Redemption II (episode)
Starfleet, led by Picard; works to expose Romulan meddling in the Klingon Civil War, as Gowron and Worf take on the House of Duras. (Season Premiere) Summary Teaser Kurn's ship, the ''Hegh'ta'', with Worf now aboard as tactical officer, is narrowly escaping destruction by two other Birds-of-Prey near a sun. Most of the bridge crew lie dead, and the Hegh'ta is losing shield strength fast. Kurn uses a clever technique of engaging warp drive near the star's surface, causing a solar flare which destroys the two pursuers. Meanwhile, Captain Picard meets with several senior Starfleet officers, including Fleet Admiral Shanthi, to discuss the Klingon civil war. Picard notes that all three engagements occurring in the past two weeks were won by ships loyal to the Duras family. Shanthi reminds Picard that that is irrelevant as far as the Federation is concerned because the Klingon civil war is an internal matter of the Empire. Picard agrees with that, however he points out that if the Duras family is being aided by the Romulan Empire then it is very much a concern of the Federation. Picard points out that the Romulans have tried to destroy the Klingon-Federation alliance for the last twenty years and at the same time the Duras family has been secretly conspiring with them. To Picard it seems strange that the Duras' are able to overpower Gowron's forces at almost every turn. Shanthi speculates that the Duras family may have better leadership and Picard states it's also possible that they're getting help. Picard reminds the admiralty that the Romulans are wiling to take huge risks to gain any advantage they can over the Federation and now, with the future of the Klingon Empire in the balance, can the Federation seriously believe that they will now just stand back and watch? Picard proposes that the Federation send a fleet to the Klingon-Romulan border, engaging in no offensive action, but create a blockade and stop the flow of supplies from the Romulans to the Duras family. Picard further explains that the problem of detecting ships equipped with cloaking devices is solved by La Forge, who has developed the tachyon detection grid, in which several ships create a tachyon field and any cloaked vessel that passes through it would be detected. Shanthi tells Picard that she'll have to clear it with the Federation Council but in the meantime to go ahead and assemble the fleet. Act One The plan is approved easily enough, but requires many vessels to cover the entire Romulan/Klingon border. During a briefing, Riker explains to Picard that Starfleet is spread pretty thin over the quadrant, and Picard is only able to round up 23 vessels in total, including the , the , the , the , the , the , the , the and the . Picard adds that the Tian An Men, the Sutherland and the Hermes may not be completely ready as far as the yard superintendent is concerned but they're going anyway. Picard assigns Riker and La Forge to the Excalibur as captain and first officer as their crew was reassigned when the ship put in for repairs. Picard tells them that he wants the fleet ready by 0900 hours and La Forge and Riker then depart. Data remains for a moment and asks Picard why he wasn't assigned a command. Picard tells him that he thought he would need Data still on Enterprise. Data comments on how Picard has mentioned a lack of senior officers that are available for this assignment. At first, Data thinks that Picard may not consider it time for an android to command a starship so as he plans on setting out ways to improve himself, Picard interrupts him and tells him that the Sutherland is in need of a captain and he can't think of anyone better for the job. Meanwhile, Worf and Kurn celebrate the war by drinking with a number of Klingons, many of whom support the House of Duras. Worf arrives and Kurn introduces him to Captain Larg who commanded the squadron that tried to destroy them the day before. Larg insults Worf by implying that Worf isn't worthy of wearing a Klingon uniform. Worf is incensed and tries to attack Larg but Kurn restrains him, telling him that the capital city is neutral ground and that Larg's men are all around them, as are Kurn's. Kurn and Larg then both pick up a glass of bloodwine and tell each other to die well, then throw the glasses away and then Larg leaves. Worf asks Kurn if he really is drinking with their enemies. Kurn ask him how many of these warriors are with them and how many with the Duras family. Kurn tells them when they meet in battle they will fight to the death but here in the capital city they are all Klingons, all warriors. Worf starts to give Kurn a status report on the repair of the Hegh'ta, Kurn asks him if only duty is in his heart then tells him that they all have duties and responsibilities but at the same time he reminds Worf that they are all Klingons, all warriors, fighting in a glorious war. Kurn asks Worf to contemplate the fact that they will fight battles soon that others can only dream of and it is time to celebrate, for tomorrow they all may die. Kurn asks Worf to forget the status report and go with him and let them live the night together as if it were their last. Worf agrees and goes into the group of Klingons with Kurn. Over in a corner Lursa and B'Etor notice this and note that Worf is trying to be more like Kurn but that it's not working very well. In drydock, the Sutherland is preparing to depart for the fleet. The ship's senior officer, Lieutenant Commander Chris Hobson oversees preparations for the ship to be ready for the fleet. Data enters the bridge and introduces himself to Hobson, and announces he is taking command of the vessel by order of Starfleet Command. Noting a lack of confidence, Hobson requests a transfer, stating his reasons, with the main one he doesn't think an android would be a good captain. Data sympathizes with Hobson, but denies his transfer. Manning tactical, Chief O'Brien informs Picard that the last of the ships assigned has arrived and orders the fleet to get underway. The Enterprise heads towards the Klingon-Romulan border, with other Federation starships right behind. Act Two B'Etor shows impatience with Sela, the Romulan commander who bears a strong resemblance to the late security chief Natasha Yar. The convoy with supplies is late, but Sela gives them good news that Gowron's forces suffered another defeat, and will not trouble their forces there. She assures her that the supplies will arrive. Lursa enters the room and informs Sela that a Federation fleet has left Starbase 234 on a course to Klingon territory, led by Picard. Toral becomes panic-stricken as he fears that the Federation might be preparing to help Gowron. Sela hushes him and orders her aide to return to Romulus with all available ships to a set of coordinates she provided. On Gowron's side, Gowron is given the news about the loss of a key sector. Furious, he says that they destroyed that supply base weeks ago. Kurn says that the Duras must be getting help, but another Klingon warrior steps in and declares non-confidence in his ability to lead, and challenges him. Gowron rises and accepts the challenge, with Worf objecting, stating that the enemy is the Duras. Worf intervenes in the challenge by restraining the warrior, allowing Gowron to run him through with his d'k tahg ending the challenge, and in his words: "Now the ''war can continue!" Elsewhere, the Federation fleet arrives at the coordinates. O'Brien picks up unusual patterns on his sensors, which Picard speculates could be cloaked Romulan ships. He hails the ''Excalibur and orders Riker to deploy the fleet and spread the net. On the Sutherland, Hobson informs Data they've reached the designated coordinates. Before the crew can play their role, the ship's starboard power coupling overloads, flooding several decks with radiation, a sign that the ship was nowhere near ready for deployment. Hobson takes the phasers and torpedoes off-line, but is countermanded by Data, who reminds him that he cannot suggest a course of action without consulting his commanding officer. Hobson replies that he is trying to save the lives of the people on the decks, but reactivates the weapons, only to have them deactivated again by Data's orders. With the fleet in position, Picard asks La Forge how long it will take for the Romulans to detect the grid. Since their sensors are as good as theirs, not long. Despite that they will have the grid detected, Picard orders the network to be activated, regardless. On board the Romulan ship, Sela and her aid picks up the increased in tachyon emissions from the Federation ships, and reminds Sela that they will be detected, cloaked or not. Sela advises her aid that she will have to convince Picard to withdraw. O'Brien picks up activity, and informs that a Romulan Warbird is decloaking, and asks to raise shields. Picard says no and the Romulan ship hails the Enterprise, which Picard responds. As Sela's image appears, Picard nearly has a heart attack and answers with one word. "Tasha?", with Deanna Troi looking on, as if she has just seen a ghost. Sela introduces herself and tells Picard that the woman he knew as Tasha Yar, was her mother. Act Three Sela threatens Picard, telling him he has twenty hours to take the fleet back to Federation space or risk a Romulan attack. In the conference room, Troi senses no deception and believes Sela's claim of being Tasha's daughter. Beverly Crusher, on the other hand, has no medical records of Yar ever being pregnant. Picard suspects she may be a clone or was surgically altered to look Romulan. As soon as Troi and Crusher leave, Guinan arrives and converses with Picard about Sela. She then asks him if he remembers [[Yesterday's Enterprise (episode)|what happened to the previous starship Enterprise]]. Picard recalls the Enterprise-C defending a Klingon outpost on Narendara III from the Romulans. He even acknowledges hearing stories about survivors being taken prisoner on Romulus, but believes they're only rumors. Guinan confirms that there were survivors and Tasha Yar was one of them. Furthermore, since Picard allowed Yar to transfer to the Enterprise-C, Guinan believes he may be responsible for the birth of Sela in the first place. As a result, Picard then decides to arrange a meeting with Commander Sela. Worf argues with Kurn, saying that Gowron should forbid anymore challenges until the war is ended, but Kurn states that it's their way, and asks if he would challenge Gowron, which Worf flatly refuses. Kurn also tells him not to speak of it and reminds him that he convinced him to follow Gowron, and suggests that if it doesn't seem right, then he made the wrong choice to wear the uniform. Kurn stomps out of the room, while supporters of the Duras capture Worf. Act Four Sela meets with Picard in the conference room and answers the one question on his mind: "How could Tasha Yar be her mother?" She explains that a Romulan general saw Tasha, who was about to be executed along with other survivors of the Enterprise-C, and became enamored with her. He offered Tasha an agreement: the others' lives would be spared if she would become his consort. A year later, Sela was born. Then, four years afterward, on one fateful night, Tasha attempted to take Sela away from her home. As a result, she was executed, even after she was given a home and a child. Everything human about Sela died that day with her mother. Now she's only Romulan. However, Picard doesn't believe her story and it will not influence his judgment the next time they meet. Sela then warns him he has fourteen hours to leave the border, and returns to her ship. Meanwhile, Lursa and B'Etor offer Worf to join them so that together, they could rule the Klingon Empire, but he refuses, knowing the Duras family never cared about honor or loyalty, only power. A moment later, Sela appears on the viewscreen, demanding to know the strengths and capabilities the Federation fleet has. She then has one of her officers take Worf away for interrogation. Picard devises a new strategic plan: if Gowron were to launch a full attack on the forces of Duras, the Romulans would have no choice but to cross the line to grant assistance. He tells Gowron of this, and he cooperates, but closes the communique by telling Picard that Worf was captured and hopes "he dies well". Riker is brought onboard from the Excalibur and Picard explains Starfleet's part in the plan: The Excalibur will fall back with engine problems while taking the Akagi and the Hornet to a position chosen by Picard. This will allow a small hole in the network, which would create a window opportunity for Sela's forces to move in. Once they come across, the Enterprise and the Tian An Men will swoop in and close the gap, exposing the Romulan connection. Riker smiles at the plan and returns to the Excalibur to execute the plan. In the meantime, Sela is informed that Gowron's loyalist forces have attacked three Duras controlled sectors and are nearing defeat. Annoyed, she asks if there's a way to circumvent Starfleet's detection grid, and her aide tells her that by flooding a point in the grid, they could disrupt that portion of the grid. Just then, they see one of the starships leave the blockade line, which Sela sees that Picard is struggling with the net, thus creating a window to allow the ships to go through. Picard's window to be exact, as Sela sees through the tactics, and doesn't take it. Instead, she directs the pulse at the weakest spot: the point location of the Sutherland, which is commanded by an "Android Captain". Act Five The attack on Duras works, and the Romulans cross the line. Unfortunately, they flood the entire area with tachyon emissions, making them undetectable. Picard orders the fleet to fall back and reform the blockade farther back. Data identifies a way to find the ships, and disobeys the order, to the chagrin of the already distrustful crew of the Sutherland. Data is able to target the ships with low-yield photon torpedoes, exposing them. Sela orders the ships back, and the short-supplied forces of Duras fall to Gowron's fleets. Although the sisters of Duras escape prosecution, Toral is captured by Worf and other forces of the House of Mogh. Gowron assumes his post as the Klingon chancellor, restores the honor of the House of Mogh, and grants Kurn a seat on the Klingon High Council. Toral's life is handed to Worf, who chooses to spare it. Worf asks Picard for his position back, and Picard happily grants the request. Memorable Quotes "The claim, 'I was only following orders' has been used to justify too many tragedies in our history. Starfleet does not want officers who will blindly follow orders without analyzing the situation. Your actions were appropriate for the circumstances, and I have noted that in your record." : - Captain Picard, to Data "You are lucky, Kurn, but luck always runs out. Someday I will stand over your broken corpse and drink to the victory of the Duras!" : - Captain Larg "The time for glory is here. It is not a time to worry about stabilizers. It is a time to celebrate, for tomorrow, we all may die!" : - Kurn, to Worf "I understand your concerns... Request denied." : - Data, refusing Christopher Hobson's request for transfer because of Data's being an android "Silence the child, or send him away!" : - Sela, on Toral "Mr. Hobson! You will carry out my orders or I will relieve you of ''duty!" "...Yes, sir." : - '''Data' reprimanding Hobson for challenging his authority. "Another message coming in; it's Captain Picard." (Picard over speakers)"Mr. Data, you were ordered to rendezvous with the fleet at Gamma Eridon. Acknowledge." "Stand by, Captain. Mr. Hobson prepare to fire." "Didn't you hear?! Captain Picard wants us--''" "''Fire." (Hobson stares at Data. Data looks expectantly back at him) "Fire!" : - Hobson, Picard, and Data Background Information Story and production * The conclusion to the cliff-hanger created by was only written after the staff returned from hiatus. Writer Ronald D. Moore recalled, "I had more fun writing Part II than I. We knew there were a lot of stories to tell but I didn't want to lose any of those threads, and the Data thing was the most fun of all of them. I wish there were a couple more minutes because you watch it and it blazes along, but it was a little constrictive. The parallels to the coup in the Soviet Union was very ironic. It was something that resonated around in my mind. Part II had a little more life than part I." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages) * Michael Piller remarked, "I've come to think of Part One as Shakespearean-style royal drama, -type intrigue at the highest levels. Here we added Data's command dilemma and the subplot of Sela that Denise Crosby had come to us with." (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion) * According to Crosby, "The part of Sela sort of came about from me sitting around in my house one day thinking about how much fun it was for me to go back and do , and it was so much fun that I thought what else can I do? I thought it was pretty well established that Lt. Yar and Lt. Castillo on "Yesterday's Enterprise" had something going so perhaps they had a child or Yar was pregnant when she went back into the past to fight her final battle. And I sort of thought it out and it seemed to really make sense, and there weer no flaws." :"So my original intention was that Lt. Yar would have a daughter that was raised by Romulans and would grow up to try to actually be a Romulan. So I brought this up and the producers really liked the idea and they sort of toyed with it for a while. A few months went by and I got a call and they said we like your idea but we just can't make sense of that Lt. Yar got pregnant by Castillo. We'll have it so that Yar was captured, they didn't all die in the battle, the ship was captured and she was taken by a Romulan general." (Trek: The Next Generation Crew Book) * Moore noted some problems in incorporating the Sela plot into the show. "It was tough to write and I knew it would be confusing and that, in essence, is the difficulty with doing continuity on the show. It's fun and gives us the sense of being a real place, but you have to explain it to people who haven't seen all those other episodes. It was not an easy explanation – that all came from Denise. She came up with the concept, which I rolled my eyes at the first time I heard. But as we started to get into story on 'Redemption II,' I needed some sort of Romulan thing to actually happen this time since we kept saying they're doing this stuff. It just seemed natural. It fit and we did it." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages) * For director David Carson, one of the highlights of the show was creating the bar scene. He recalled, "Rick Berman encouraged me to invent new ways of behaving, which is why they banged their heads together as a game; or arm wrestling with pointed daggers attached to their wrists. It was totally Klingon and it's an interesting world to work in. When you have the good fortune to have an episode like 'Redemption,' you are able to make this wonderful contrast between the clean, optimistic world of the ''Enterprise, and the down and dirty world of the Klingons. That's just great for a story-teller." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages) * Christopher Hobson was named for a longtime friend of Ronald D. Moore, while the "Keith" and "Terry" aboard the were named for Moore's brothers. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion) Continuity * At the end of , it was stated that Worf was to be tactical officer aboard Gowron's ship, but here he appears serving aboard Kurn's ship, the . Ronald D. Moore commented, "''A lot of time had passed between the events in Part I and Part II, so we felt there was enough of a time cut there to justify Worf having switched assignments. What really happened was that we didn't even come up with the story for Part II until after hiatus... and we didn't have the idea for putting Kurn and Worf on the same ship until then." * Sela's origins, revealed here, arise from the events of . * This is the only episode of the Sela arc where she is referred to by name. * This and are the only two-part episodes that do not use the traditional "Part II" suffix on its title. In this case, the episode is known simply as "Redemption II" instead of "Redemption, Part II." * Footage of the Klingon Bird-of-Prey flying towards the Sun is reused from . * Footage of the USS Excalibur along with the Enterprise-D was reused from "Yesterday's Enterprise". * The Duras sisters are not seen again until the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode . * Tony Todd makes his next and final appearance as Kurn in the DS9 fourth season episode . * The Deep Space Nine fifth season opener reveals that Martok fought on Gowron's side at the Battle of Mempa. * Toral is next seen in the Deep Space Nine fourth season episode , where he tries to take over the Empire by attempting to steal the Sword of Kahless from Worf, Kor and Jadzia Dax. * Having served as Captain Benjamin Maxwell's tactical officer aboard the ( ), Chief O'Brien appropriately fills the same role on the Enterprise during Worf's absence. *Data claims to have 26 years of Starfleet service. Reception * Rick Berman remarked, "It was a terrific episode. We've played out our Klingon political trilogy to a point where we can take a rest for a while. But I thought it was delightful and David Carson did a marvelous job." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages) * Regarding the introduction of Sela, Michael Piller commented, "Sela was not created to be a new regular character on the show. I would disagree that her Crosby's return was botched. I found it quite effective, I found Sela's backstory to be quite emotionally touching. The only objection that I had to the show was that in the critical moment of the fifth act, exposure of the Romulan's chrage, we missed one important shot that didn't sell the remarkable nature of what Data had accomplished. Otherwise, I rather liked the opening episode of the season." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages) * Actor Michael Dorn noted, "I thought it was a good opportunity for me. But they also packed a lot of things into one episode...a lot of things. It was too much. I thought the Data story should have been a whole episode; it was an interesting story in which he encounters prejudice and that's a really strong point that needed more time, but they chose not to. There was also the story or how I get back to the ''Enterprise and the whole thing about Denise Crosby. That's three big stories for one episode, but they're the people who write it and are in charge." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages) * Brent Spiner recalled, "''Some fans wrote and said they thought Data was really emotional in 'Redemption'. I didn't think so at all. What I was playing was a character who was in a command situation for the first time and the only model he had was the man he served under, Captain Picard. So when he yelled, 'Do it!', it wasn't because he was emotional but because he thought it would engender a response because that's what Picard would have done." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages) Video and DVD releases *Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 51, *In feature-length form, as part of the UK VHS release Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Full Length TV Movies: Volume 3, catalog number VHR 4103, *UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 5.1, *As part of the TNG Season 5 DVD collection *As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Klingon collection *In feature-length form, as part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete TV Movies collection Links and references Main Cast *Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard *Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker *LeVar Burton as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge *Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf *Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher *Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi *Brent Spiner as Lieutenant Commander Data *Wil Wheaton as Ensign Wesley Crusher Guest stars *Denise Crosby as Commander Sela *Tony Todd as Commander Kurn *Barbara March as Lursa *Gwynyth Walsh as B'Etor *J.D. Cullum as Toral *Robert O'Reilly as Chancellor Gowron *Michael G. Hagerty as Larg *Fran Bennett as Shanthi *Nicholas Kepros as Movar *Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien *Timothy Carhart as Christopher Hobson Special guest star *Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan Co-stars *Jordan Lund as Kulge *Stephen James Carver as the ''Hegh'ta'' helmsman *Majel Barrett as the computer voice Uncredited co-stars *Edward J. Franklin as a Klingon in mess hall *Clifton Jones as Craig *Tom Morga as a Romulan guard *Tim McCormack as Bennett (stock footage) *Unknown actor as Terry References ''Ahwahnee'', USS; ''Ajax'', USS ; ''Akagi'', USS, ''Aries'', USS; baktag; Beta Lankal; Berellian; ''Charleston'', USS; Chief of Starfleet Operations; cloaking device; ; ; Daystrom Institute Proceedings; ''Endeavour'', USS; ''Excalibur'', USS; Gamma Eridon; ''Goddard'', USS; Great Hall; ''Hathaway'', USS; ''Hegh'ta'', IKS; ''Hermes'', USS; ''Hood'', USS; ''Hornet'', USS; Journal of Starfleet Technology; Journal of Subspace Research; Journal of the Institute for Unauthorized Experiments; Khitomer Massacre; Klingon history; Mempa, Battle of; Mempa sector; Mempa system; ''Merrimack'', USS; ; Narendra III; ; observation lounge; photosphere; Prime Directive; Right of Vengeance; Romulan; Scientific Tasmanian; Starbase 234; ''Sutherland'', USS; tachyon detection grid; tachyon scan; ''Thomas Paine'', USS; ''Tian An Men'', USS; ''Trieste'', USS; ; yard superintendent |next= }} de:Der Kampf um das klingonische Reich, Teil II es:Redemption, Part II ja:TNG:クリンゴン帝国の危機・後編 nl:Redemption, Deel II Category:TNG episodes Category:TNG episodes